War of Angels Overview

War of Angels is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG that mixes elements from both Eastern and Western games, both in visual style and gameplay. Perhaps the game’s most innovative feature is it’s town building system – where players who conquer towns can build and better manage them. Like most other MMORPGs, players have access to both a large variety of pets and mounts as well as a large arsenal of skills and spells. Unlike most MMORPGs that limit gameplay to land only, players in War of Angels are free to explore and fight enemies on land, underwater, and even in the sky. The European version of War of Angels is hosted on Gamigo while the North American and global version is hosted by Neowiz (The one we link to).

War of Angels Screenshots

War of Angels Featured Video

Full Review

War of Angels Review

War of Angels Review

In the world of MMORPGs, it’s hard to find a game that truly stands out from the crowd. Cookie-cutter games are everywhere, to a point where it’s not a stretch to say X game is “just like” Y. When a game does try to break from the pack with something unique, it’s worth paying a lot of attention to. War of Angels, published by NeoWiz in North America (and by Gamigo in Europe), is one of those games that tries to be different – but does it work?

The Four Cornerstones

Character creation in War of Angels by selecting one of four base classes – Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, and Mage – along with the character’s gender. These four classes each have the opportunity to split into one of two advanced classes, specializing in a certain type of combat. Fighters may become Warriors (DPS) or Knights (Tanks); Rangers become Hunters (Rifles and AoE DPS) or Archers (Bow, traps and stealth); Rogues become Scouts (PvP focused) or Avengers (PvE focused); and Mages may become Clerics (healers) or Sorcerers (magic DPS). This class shift happens at level 20, giving players ample time to decide what experience they would prefer from their starter class.

Character creation is otherwise moderately limited. There are three options each for face, skin, hair color, and hair style, and five options in choosing the color of your starting gear. More options are only available in the Item Shop, so expect to see everyone look relatively similar outside of gear. For new players, at least, cutting your teeth in War of Angels is easy. Small question mark pop-ups will appear as players encounter new things in the game, connecting them to a fairly useful in-game encyclopedia.

Good versus Evil

Like many MMOs, questing is a matter of finding NPCs who have tasks (marked with question marks) and doing as they ask, often killing enemies either to eliminate them or find items. Speaking with NPCs enters a separate dialogue screen with multiple options, similar in ways to AIKA Online. This not only opens an opportunity to get a feel for NPC personalities and storyline, but a chance for the player to choose how to respond to NPC requests, part of the disposition system. Yes, players can ultimately choose to be good or evil in the War of Angels, in a faction system that will eventually support PvP between good versus evil, as well as guilds.

Lesh-erous

Combat and questing is a core component of the game, and remains simple and to the point. Each class is granted unique skills, along with a death blow attack. Players can engage with enemies and use their skills to bring them down. As players kill more enemies, they can charge their deathblow meter, which can be used to unleash a devastating and unique attack against an enemy.

At first, players will be tasked with killing all sorts of Leshes – long-haired troll creatures with large noses that look like they came out of a children’s book. Eventually, players will move on to other creatures, strange, funny, and even flying. Yes, there is a flight system in game. Players can use wings and other items to fly briefly to fight flying enemies, in a similar (but less complicated) system to Aion. Also, there are also dungeons with multiple difficulty settings for players to conquer for gear.

You Look Enchanting

While players can’t craft their own items, there are two systems which let them upgrade the equipment they do find. The imprint system lets players add stats to their equipment by finding imprints off enemies and attaching them to the equipment. The enchanting system, on the other hand, lets players upgrade weapons (attack damage) or armor (defense value), while adding a glow effect. Both of these systems can fail without cash shop items, but do allow players to add power to their equipment.

The Grind Is Back

With a flying combat system, a faction system that supports the choice of the character affecting how they interact in the world, and an eight-class balanced combat system designed to balance both PvP and PvE, War of Angels looks great on paper. Unfortunately, the game is also stuck in the same rut that many free-to-play MMOs have been for years – the grind. It takes a lot of experience to get from level to level, something that becomes evident in the mid-levels, and the content eventually doesn’t support the experience that needs to be gained. Likewise, the item shop supports the idea of purchasing equipment upgrades, potions, and buffs that can help the player out of the rut. While the grind in War of Angels is “softer” than other games, quests will run out and leave hours worth of work to go from level to level.

Final Verdict: Good

Evidence supports that NeoWiz is listening at least a little to its players; at the end of 2010, they removed a heavy experience penalty on death that had many players quitting and promised that PvP would be coming soon. The game is certainly better than many others, offering a few unique systems and the promise of a dynamic PvP environment. As it stands now, however, War of Angels remains a fairly typical MMORPG (with a few elements from Aion and AIKA) that is otherwise unremarkable and unfinished.